Up to 63 deported in Windrush fiasco, Javid admits

AS MANY as 63 Windrush generation migrants may have been wrongfully deported by the Government, the Home Secretary has admitted.

Sajid Javid said yesterday that the number could rise further still as he branded as “un-british” the term “hostile environment”, coined by Theresa May. The admission comes after weeks of denials that any member of the postwar Windrush generation had been forced to leave Britain.

Under questioning by members of the Commons home affairs select committee, Mr Javid said 32 of the 63 cases involved criminals, but the other 31 were innocent people who had left voluntarily after being sent a letter by the Home Office asking them to go.

Mr Javid also announced that he had written to banks asking them to ignore a batch of letters sent earlier this year demanding they close the accounts of illegal immigrants, until the Home Office could be sure it had not accidentally included Windrush migrants.

He also confirmed that the Government would be publishing details of a settled status scheme for EU nationals seeking to remain in Britain after Brexit before Parliament went into recess at the end of July.

Concerns had been expressed about the treatment of EU nationals in the wake of the Windrush scandal amid fears that European citizens may also struggle to prove their right to stay.

Last night, the Prime Minister said the Windrush generation was “part of us” and added that the Home Office task force was working to ensure they were granted citizenship.

Mr Javid took over as Home Secretary last month after Amber Rudd resigned over the scandal. He said addressing the plight of the Windrush generation was his “most urgent task”.